Eric Hoffer quotes - page 7

The quality of ideas seems to play a minor role in mass movement leadership. What counts is the arrogant gesture, the complete disregard of the opinion of others, the singlehanded defiance of the world. (Eric Hoffer)
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Children are the keys of paradise. View quote
Eric Hoffer
They who lack talent expect things to happen without effort. They ascribe failure to a lack of inspiration or ability, or to misfortune, rather than to insufficient application. At the core of every true talent there is an awareness of the difficulties inherent in any achievement, and the confidence that by persistence and patience something worthwhile will be realized. Thus talent is a species of vigor. View quote
Eric Hoffer
The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle. View quote
Eric Hoffer
To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible. View quote
Eric Hoffer
A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power. View quote
Eric Hoffer
There is a tendency to judge a race, a nation or any distinct group by its leastworthy members. View quote
Eric Hoffer
The pleasure we derive from doing favors is partly in the feeling it gives us that we are not altogether worthless. It is a pleasant surprise to ourselves. (Eric Hoffer)
Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible. View quote
Eric Hoffer
There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Social improvement is attained more readily by a concern with the quality of results than with the purity of motives. View quote
Eric Hoffer
The misery of a child is interesting to a mother, the misery of a young man is interesting to a young woman, the misery of an old man is interesting to nobody. View quote
Eric Hoffer
We are more prone to generalize the bad than the good. We assume that the bad is more potent and contagious. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature. View quote
Eric Hoffer
It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans. America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it. View quote
Eric Hoffer
We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Whenever you trace the origin of a skill or practices which played a crucial role in the ascent of man, we usually reach the realm of play. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Our sense of power is more vivid when we break a man's spirit than when we win his heart. (Eric Hoffer)
When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect. View quote
Eric Hoffer
It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate. View quote
Eric Hoffer
The real Antichrist is he who turns the wine of an original idea into the water of mediocrity. View quote
Eric Hoffer